--Ada Wofford
South Jersey band Needless Ghost released their first EP July 11, 2019. It consists of four moody, spacious tracks that bring together influences ranging from Sonic Youth to Sunny Day Real Estate, with a dash of shoegaze thrown in for good measure. The tracks are heavy but dreamy, a classic shoegaze trope, but fortunately they lack the abrasiveness typical of the genre. They’re self-reflective and moody, but thankfully lack the whininess typical of emo. They’re noisy and radiate a sense of coolness or slackerdom, but—and perhaps this is my one critique—the EP fails to truly embody the attitude of 90s noise/slackerdom. But that’s a tough thing to do so I won’t hold it against them. The good news is they reference it well. Where they miss the mark in copying shoegaze and early emo actually results in their favor. Needless Ghost takes the best aspects of various 90s genres and blends them together in a meaningful and exciting way.
The EP is four tracks, spanning a little less than 20 minutes. It’s a moody, atmospheric album drenched in fuzz and reverb. It’s exactly the type of album guitar nerds love because it’s all chunky chords and dreamy leads spawned by loud amps and a love of guitar pedals. Sing-songwriter, Ryan Young, despite admittedly telling me he tries not to sound too similar to Thurston Moore, sounds a lot like Thurston Moore. But it’s nothing for him to be ashamed about because Moore has a great voice and it fits the drone-laden fuzz of Needless Ghost. Young’s voice meanders in and out of the music; much like some lost spirit wandering an abandoned house, appearing here and there just to disappear again behind a fog of fuzz. And maybe that’s what their name implies, that the vocals are meaningless, just rock out to the music.
Creating that music is a host of gear. Here’s what Young had to say about their recording process and the gear used on the record:
"We recorded it live in Jimmy’s (our drummer) living room, he has hardwood floors and high ceilings, so it has a nice resonance. We used a hodgepodge of microphones collected by Kyle (guitar) and Jon (bass) who are both sound guys. We positioned the amps facing away from the drums and had a vocal going DI that only Jimmy could hear, so he could follow along.
Pretty sure all the songs are one take, except for one, which was spliced with another take. I used a Fender 2x12 Ultra Chorus amp. The bass was a Mosrite, the guitars: a Gretsch, a thin line Tele, and a Jaguar. On top of the Crate 4x12 cab (with custom speakers) is a Fender Hot Rod. Bass amp is an Ashdown 330 and we used Logic to record it. On my pedal board I have an EarthQuaker Bellows, a Maxon analog delay, and an EHX Holy Grail reverb. Kyle’s pedals are: MXR Compressor, Boss Octave, Fulltone overdrive/distortion, Boss delay, EHX reverb. Jon used a Bass Big Muff Deluxe."
The amount of gear can certainly be heard on the album but the fact that it was recorded in a living room cannot. The album is lush and spacious; it sounds as if it was recorded in a top-notch studio. This is an album of contrasts that compliment—It rocks but it’s soft. It’s great sleeping music but it’s also great driving music. Needless Ghost have asserted themselves as experts of texture and atmosphere. I’m very excited to see what they come up with on forthcoming releases.
And if you're in the Philadelphia are, catch them at:
The Grape Room--11/8/19
Anthora Gallery--11/22/19
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